An Airbus A330 MRTT of the Royal Australian Air Force. Indonesia is studying the platform for a possible procurement in the 2020–24 timeframe. Source: Airbus

Key Points

Indonesia is studying the Boeing KC-46A, and the Airbus A330 MRTT to improve its aerial refuelling capabilities

Programme is expected to be the next major logistics aircraft acquisition undertaking after the Airbus A400M

The Indonesian Air Force (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Udara) has begun a study to expand the service’s aerial refuelling capabilities, with a view on establishing a formal acquisition programme for two airframes by 2024, a TNI-AU official told Jane’s on 18 January.

The aircraft types that are being compared in this study are the A330 multirole tanker-transport (MRTT) from Airbus, and what the Indonesians allude to as a militarised version of the Boeing 767 tanker, in reference to the KC-46A Pegasus.

Issues that will be scrutinised in the study include suitability for Indonesian operational requirements, compatibility of refuelling methods with the TNI-AU’s fleet of aircraft, interoperability with existing and future assets, and life-cycle costs.

Also to be considered are possible local and foreign funding options that can be tapped upon, and potential for transfer-of-technology arrangements with local companies such as state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTD), said the TNI-AU official.

A completion of this study will then pave the way for a definition of programme parameters, and the TNI-AU is expected to launch a formal acquisition programme, and funding request from the Indonesian Ministry of Defence, in the 2020–24 timeframe.

Prior to June 2015, the TNI-AU operated a fleet of two pod-equipped KC-130Bs, which were delivered in the early 1960s. One of these aircraft crashed in Medan on 30 June of that year after developing engine troubles, and since then the TNI-AU has had to rely on a single airframe of the type for its aerial refueling needs. The sole KC-130B is currently stationed with the TNI-AU’s Aviation Squadron 32 at the Abdul Rachman Saleh airbase in Malang.

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